Not much to report about day 6 'cept to say that we probably covered a couple of the seven deadly sins. Sloth and gluttony leap immediately to mind but it's entirely possible that we covered the lot. No bad karma here though. I don't begrudge those folks who live here through the long northern winters for their good fortune, but I sure would like to be one of them someday. That doesn't count as envy does it?

Once again the beach called. First stop was Sun Dog for sandwiches to go (fantastic, btw) then on to Gibney again. We had the entire western end to ourselves all day.....must have been a slow beach day. We relaxed, played, ate, swam, read, snorkeled, listened to music, observed comic rooster behavior, inspected fallen coconuts and altogether chilled in no particular order.

After that, there was nothing to be done but head back to Gallows to recover from that exhausting exercise. In all our past visits we had never eaten dinner at Chateau Bordeaux. Since the moon was still full we were lucky to get a reservation and a beautiful table by the window. Dinner was great and our waiter Warren was super and very sweet. We shared a couple of apps, the Coconut Prawns Tempura and the Spring Greens then the entrees were filet, duck and lamb. #2 had the clam soup for his entree and all four of us shared and tasted each dish. Believe it or not we made room for dessert, the creme caramel and a warm chocolate soufflee type concoction which surely qualified to be a deadly sin in and of itself.

This is our first visit to the VI's that we haven't booked a day trip or half day trip somewhere. We might decide to do something unless we don't. Maybe we'll just run out of time making up our mind and that will be fine, too.

Pat, I hadn't thought of that explanation for the missing pewter cups. We can't just go around poisoning people for the sake of table fashion, I suppose. My criminal mind worried that because they were so cute that some sticky fingered tourist made off them one gazpacho at a time. Great excuse for ice cream though!

Cocosmom, I'm a bad one to ask about the night shot settings because I am experimenting quite a bit as I learn. For the ones posted I changed the ISO to 800, then used the automatic night setting on the setting wheel. The trick was keeping the camera steady without a tripod. For night shots that is key. Last's night's full moon over Coral Bay pics didn't turn out at all. When I get a chance I'll play with adjusting them to see if I can improve the quality. There are others here who are much more qualified to comment than I.

Marcia, the Tooth Fairy is magic. She can do anything.

Last edited by Agent99 on Tue Mar 31, 2009 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Agent, thanks for the real time reports. I just now got time to read them so it seems like I've had an entire trip this morning. I'm glad you are having a wonderful time and you very much sound like you are in island mode! Love that!

Yesterday and today were quiet again. Spent most of the morning at Vie's then enjoyed her wonderful Garlic Chicken, Johnny Cake and Coconut tart. Afterward we stopped here and there to snorkel. We snorkelded quite a bit and saw lots of beautiful, healthy conch, turtles, rays and our favorite find was this gorgous Queen Helmet. We'd seen one smaller than this three years ago, in the very same spot, photographed him then put him back. It's fun to wonder if this is the same fella all grown up. I hope anyone else who finds him lets him stay put.

We were all pretty tired from snorkeling all day and decided to go casual and close for supper. Banana Deck fit the bill. The atmosephere is great, the front of the house does a great job. The food was fine.......86's delmonico could have used a higher temp grill to sear it on both sides in my opinion. It seemed a bit more prime rib like. #1 really enjoyed his Shrimp Curry over rice and my burger and #2's pasta with sauce were fine.

Gotta run. TBC

Last edited by Agent99 on Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:01 am, edited 2 times in total.

Pianogrl, I promised the utes that I'd never tell the exact spot but it's on the east end.

Sometimes we skip visiting Trunk Bay because of the cruise ship crowds. I'm so glad that we didn't skip it this year. When we arrived around 9:30 there was a group getting some instruction and gear. We walked to the far right side of the beach and set up under a beautiful shade tree. Although the thought occurred to me to commandeer the caution tape that was attached to a walkway under repair and fashion it to block off "our" private little Idaho, it was not even necessary.

The cruise shippers were polite and quiet.....not a screamer in the bunch. They left promptly at 11:30 and for an hour or so we had the right side of the beach to ourselves. When the cruisers packed up we snorkeled out to the end. The coral looked healthier than it had in years, imo, and the water was very calm and crystal clear.

Later we took a drive around.....I love this part of the road along Maho....

then headed back to Gallows to clean up for dinner at Waterfront Bistro. It was great. We were called by June to let us know that they would be just serving apps, salads and desserts and that was fine with us because often we order an assortment of apps instead of making the more serious commitment to an entire entree. It was a very smart call to test the kitchen out this way before running the full menu. They know what they are doing.

The place is beautifully renovated and they have obviously hired an experienced and talented staff. Our server was terrific, and had waited on us early on at another terrific place. The dishes our table tried were delicious, the Lobster Bisque was served with a dollup of creme fraish and caviar. #2's crock of french Onion Soup was scrumptious and #1 loved his seared scallops. We all shared the Caramelized onion tartlet hich was light, crispy and deliciously cheesy all at once. For dessert we shared the chocolate souffle.......if there is one of those babies on the menu you can bet someone in our family will order it. It was not only gorgeous, but light as a feather and served with a citrusy cream anglaise and a tart raspberry concoction. Scrumptious! We will definitely be back. Ask for Sally and tell her her friends from Cape Ann sent you.

Love these reports I have a Queen Helmet On our fireplace mantle that I purchased from a vendor in Jamaica. They are so beautiful. I'm with ya on the little part of the drive by Maho love how it gets darker and feels like all the sudden your in the middle of a rain forest because it's so thick.